Boom!

A clap of thunder.

Luo Di jolted awake, waking up from a familiar bed.

Again, a familiar small window at home,

again, a familiar bedroom layout.

He had returned to his old home in Jupiter City,

it was still the dead of night, and a thunderstorm was raging outside. Strangely, the rainwater was not only splashing in through the window cracks but also seeping through the walls into the house.

As a result, his bedroom was not just damp; even the floor was covered with a layer of rainwater that had a faint smell, a smell of blood.

Groggily, Luo Di sat up and couldn't remember anything, his brain felt like a massive stone had been stuffed into it, heavy and occupying the space for thoughts.

He got out of bed, and the sensation from stepping onto the water-soaked floor was bizarre.

It didn't feel like rainwater, but rather a stickier liquid.

Instinctively, Luo Di left the bedroom, intending to get a mop from the bathroom, seemingly unaware that he made no sound as he walked.

Just as he left the bedroom,

another lightning flash streaked across the sky!

Boom!

In that instant of thunderlight, the whole room was illuminated, and Luo Di seemed to see something standing in the corner of the living room. It looked like a person, but the head had a stringy structure, even wriggling.

Upon a closer look, he found nothing there.

When Luo Di reached the bathroom just about to find the mop, he caught sight of something from the corner of his eye, noticing something odd in the reflection of himself in the mirror.

He halted, turned to the sink, and looked at himself in the mirror.

The entire left side of his face was missing, as if bitten off, yet the gap was stuffed with tongues, ensuring the brain's integrity.

At the same time, his cervical spine seemed broken, but a tongue was connected at the fractured point.

His body was the same; multiple bite-openings were all smoothed over with the help of tongues, and the lumbar spine fracture was connected in the same way with several tongues.

The most dramatic was the lower half,

starting from the navel, the lower half was already missing.

The reason Luo Di could move was that numerous long tongues had grown out of his body, supporting him to stand and slither forward like octopus tentacles.

Upon seeing this form, upon seeing these tongues,

Luo Di's mind gradually cleared, he remembered something, remembered what had happened before, remembered that he was in danger.

Snap!

The tongue flicked,

Luo Di suddenly awoke.

Yet, he was no longer in the supermarket, there was no threat of being devoured, no spreading mist.

He was lying at the entrance to a dense forest,

his bodily injuries had largely recovered,

even the right hand that had initially been devoured was regrown, with the vortex pattern in the palm clearly visible.

This meant that the Carnivorous Family had been distanced, and the effect of "being eaten" had been dispelled.

However, when Luo Di attempted to support himself up, there was a sharp pain from his spine.

This pain pierced his soul, signifying that the most critical "Old Spine" was severely damaged, with conventional regeneration methods unable to repair it.

But the internal nerves were barely maintaining connections, allowing him to perform some basic activities.

"Joke's application of the mist completely avoided the moonlight search, and the dagger used to sever my spine was meticulously prepared.

He had executed the most complete, the most perfect plan that could ensure killing me 100%.

He even knew long ago that I would walk through that abandoned city, even knew my precise location, knew that my right hand could connect with Teacher Guo.

Does he possess some ability to confirm my whereabouts?

Or do more powerful people want me dead?

Could it be the comics shop behind all this?

Because I had converted the fragments into my own things, completely negating the abyssal influence of the fragments while only extracting the metallic characteristics without bearing the corresponding consequences?

Perhaps that is the reason.

I should have considered this in advance... too careless of me.

Additionally, the Carnivorous Family evidently gained something very powerful and divine from the videotape, his fear now holds a divine stance, I must attain plant maturity soon.

Speaking of which, was I saved by a tongue?"

Luo Di instinctively extended his tongue, discovering that the tongue that was supposed to have been severed and fallen was still in his mouth, with a faint question mark mark on its surface, as well as a clear curse character.

"Before setting out for the Invisible Manor, I also used resentment to pinpoint the root of the tongue's position, which happened to be along a route... by a twist of fate, did I summon the thing behind the tongue over?

He helped me,

he drove off Joke and Hunter,

he brought my body here.

It's a bit odd, if his true self wants to see me, why not directly carry me to his place, but instead come to this forest before.

Moreover,

Being able to drive away those two monsters and being taken seriously by Mr. Question Mark,

this guy's strength should be in the top echelon of the Middle Layer. Why has he been in hiding all this time, with no organization or apparent activity?

Since I arrived at the Corner, I've only seen him once.

Today marks the second time.

Could he be in some special state, unable to move freely outside, and that's why he wants me to meet him personally?"

Luo Di re-examined the dense forest before him, indeed it was different from ordinary woods.

The entire forest was quite humid, with some leaves still dripping with water... or perhaps saliva.

Standing there, Luo Di also had a strong sensation, a sensation from the tongue,

and could confirm that the thing was lurking deep within this dense forest.

Although Luo Di wanted to thank the person, to repay this critical life-saving favor,

he couldn't accurately judge the true stance of the tongue right now. Moreover, with his injured spine, his power had greatly diminished; recklessly making contact might lead to trouble.

His fingers began to draw circles on the Vortex palm lines, as Luo Di prepared to contact Teacher Guo first.

What should have been a normal circling motion,

the palm lines gradually transformed into a pitch-black vortex during the process, until it swept Luo Di's entire consciousness into it... Buzz!

In an instant, Luo Di was already standing at the office door, with Teacher Guo putting down his work and looking at him in surprise.

"Suffered such severe injuries? Let's get to the point."

Luo Di quickly recounted the relevant events, and Teacher Guo's facial features began to swiftly rearrange themselves.

"Your speculation is probably right; you've been targeted.

The Joker shouldn't have been able to acquire your precise location, set up a perfect ambush on the road, and accurately sever your right hand capable of contacting me without any mark.

The person in the comic book store must want you dead; hence, he arranged for the Joker, who already had a grudge against you, to deal with you.

The deity itself must have some reason why it cannot directly influence you.

You survived, which indeed is quite lucky... Of course, part of that luck was also because you fought for it.

But you should reflect on yourself; it's precisely because you rushed too much, eager to progress, and too hasty in pursuing the Corner Depths that led to this crisis.

Take it a bit slower and pay more attention to the hidden currents around you."

"Understood, Teacher Guo!

Indeed since I touched upon that qualification and saw the tip of the iceberg, I've been somewhat impatient; I'll correct myself.

It's just that now I'm not sure whether to contact the thing behind the tongue."

Teacher Guo didn't respond verbally but wrote something on a slip of paper on the desk.

When the slip was thrown over and caught by Luo Di in an instant.

Buzz!

Luo Di's consciousness was ejected from the office, returning to the original place, returning before the dense forest.

Swirling black smoke rose incessantly from his palm, and an extra leave slip appeared in his hand, extending Luo Di's holiday by another week.

Given this, Luo Di no longer hesitated, enduring the intense discomfort in his spine, stepped by step, into the mucus-laden dense forest.

The forest area was even larger than anticipated,

the deeper he went, the stranger the plants became.

The surface of the trees was secreting saliva at all times, exuding a thick smell of stench.

The flowers on the ground were all plump and juicy, in the shape of tongues, and when passing by, they would even lick him.

There were even "animals" slowly appearing.

Due to the unique nature of the Corner, native animals do not exist.

The pets sold in the Black Coffin Supermarket are often created from flesh and blood by some special monsters; the environment of the Corner won't spontaneously create any form of life, except for Lebeite.

And yet, there existed "animals" here,

Luo Di caught sight of a toad-like thing hopping in the grass, and upon closer inspection, its body was a thick tongue, and its limbs were plant roots.

On some branches, there were also tongue-like caterpillar creatures, their surfaces covered with emerald green fuzz.

These creatures were basically in an [insect] form while also fused with a plant style.

After walking for two full hours,

Luo Di reached the center of this huge forest area,

where an unusual clearing appeared,

without saliva secretion or animal activity, as if all life dared not approach this place.

In the center of the clearing was a small hole, from which continuous sensory signals from the tongue were released, urging Luo Di to go over.

This scene reminded Luo Di of the earliest Simulation Practice with the squad leader and others,

when searching for objects on the mountain, he also found a tongue in such a forest clearing with holes...

As Luo Di approached the clearing, he suddenly sensed something.

He suddenly realized this clearing, perhaps even the entire dense forest, might have been artificially formed, existing to suppress something.

"Seal? Is that guy trapped below?"

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